My name is David, and I am a gear addict. Its not that I have much kit now (check my profile) its that in the past I owned A LOT of equipment. Like any addiction the seeds of its return are always there. The writer of the article I link to above proclaims he is "a big fan of Limitation creativity". I agree, and I feel using kit limitations to fuel both good photography and recover from the addiction is the right way forward.

Anyone else admit to being a current or recovering gear addict? Sorry if this post appears frivolous, but I feel the underlying problem is one many of us continually struggle against.

In my case I have largely recovered, I find having 2 very expensive children has limited my opportunities to own indecent amounts of kit!

What if we're junkies who fight the itch. I don't have much, and never have. But, I want it all. I know what it all does, I want to do those things with it, and I want it bad. All of it. All of the stuff.

I just know that I can't have it and probably wouldn't use it, anyway. So, I make due with a gear "master plan" like a city planner. I identify my future needs and have a plan to reasonably acquire gear when I will be able to do so.

But, every time I see some great lens or camera (that is not even on the master plan, mind you) on cragslist, I start running numbers to see if I can buy it right now. Today it was an 85 1.8, tomorrow it will be something else. It's every day.

There was also a pretty cheap 50 1.4 on CL today. I've always wanted to try one of those. I wonder if I can squeeze it in...

Having not purchased any new Canon equipment except upgrading one camera in a while...I don't think I'm a full gear addict. I haven't felt a need for any other lenses in a long time. However, I just re-bought a D800 and added MF 14mm and 85mm lenses to my 35g, so I will in fact be getting more gear in the next few weeks...

In fact, the D800 is the first camera I have bought anything for that wasn't strictly for work purposes (MF lenses aren't great for wedding photography).

I started out buying and selling stuff as a rookie... I now have just what I feel is everything I need to do everything I want to..One cam, three lenses, tripod and a flash...I must admit tho, if Nikon introduces a D whatever crop soon I may just dedicate my 70-200 2.8 to it and use the 50 and 16-35 on the D700...minimal lens switching and be ready for everything all the time..I'm a happy content camper...for now anyway

Besides my Canon DSLRs and L lenses I also own Medium Format Digital gear. So I fully qualify as a gear addict but I make money with my gear since I work as a Photographer full time. It doesnt make the gear any cheaper, it still hurts my wallet.

No, that won't do. If you make money from your gear that is legitimate. I don't think you qualify as an addict!

My worst excess was that for most of the 1990s I ran - side by side - a black FM2, a chrome FM2 and a titanium FMT. My most used lens for this trio was a Nikkor 28mm f1.4. I had 3 Hasselblads at the same time.

To be honest I am a bit ashamed of this excess, I can't say that my current more basic outfit, 2 bodies, 3 L lenses and 2 Nikkors - limits me in any way. I am glad to be in recovery at least, if not cured.

I'll fess-up to being an addict, despite making money (not as much as I once did!). I've never had more gear than I do now, and certainly not digital, which is my main "stash". The quality of the gear is the highest I've ever owned, and I like to think the quality of my picture taking is the best it's ever been as well. I still have a few more Canon lenses on my wish list, and I am jonesing for a couple super bodies beyond what is currently available. So, I'll probably be following my addiction until the day I die, because I get so much pleasure and satisfaction from using and owning great photo gear.

Please pencil me in to the "Gear Slut" column, and shun me as a bad influence.

Interesting read, thanks for passing it along. I've questioned myself numerous times over new acquisitions...the need, the desire, the aspirations, and the finances...and there have been times when I feel that I've got a lot of stuff. (I've certainly been fortunate more than many folks.) But I've worked hard and saved hard for all I have, and these things are just tools to me. I enjoy the quiet solitude of what I do with my gear, and having my carefully selected lens array at my disposal brings me real pleasure and comes with no guilt. That my 14mm gets used far less than my 120-300mm trifles me in no way...and this may sound corny, but, I've truly come to understand that living each day with hope (hope for better things to come, hope for happier times, hope for opportunities and more joy and love in this life and this world) is what makes my days brighter and more meaningful...and that mostly unloved 14mm humbly stands along with so many other symbols and persons in my life towards what all the todays and tomorrows may bring in this life. So, am I a pack rat? Yep, you bet. But you're not gonna make me feel bad about it!

Good read. I bet the writer falls off the wagon and buys a bunch of gear.

I understand the addiction. Staying off FM and other photography sites and in my case also staying off the Guitar and Midi websites help me to not crave newer, better and yet here I am on FM again and thinking (hmm, what would be a good colorimeter solution?)

David Baldwin wrote:
"I bet the writer falls off the wagon and buys a bunch of gear."

Sadly finances don't permit, but I am saving for a 6D2

I didn't realize you were the writer - good article and great street photos.

I have been on and off the GAS wagon my entire life and I'm still alive to talk about it. I've personally been dreaming of a 500mm and a newer digital body and a new trashcan shaped mac pro but am fighting the urge successfully. (It helps to have a conscience living with me -- my wife.)

GC5 wrote:
It's cheaper than motorcycles. At least that's what I tell my wife, and she doesn't seem to mind...

To say nothing of the fact that I've never heard of a Canon giving one "road rash." Says the man who still has the scars.

For me a camera (and associated gear) is a tool. I make a significant part of my living with these tools and many of the things I've purchased (and sometimes sold on) were attempts to solve a problem or get the shot. Obviously some tools get used more often. In PJ work the 24-70 is the most used lens while in sports it's generally the 70-200 f/2.8. OTOH I have a set of 3 primes that were selected via trial and error to photograph indoor winter sports in utterly dismal gyms. I wouldn't have bought a 35mm f/1.4L or the wonderful 85mm f/1.8 otherwise. (The 135mm f/2.0L is something I refuse to give up because of its inherent beauty.)

Did I need a 24mm TSE f/3.5 II? No, probably not, but I was drawn to the challenge of looking at things in a different way and wanted to extend my landscape work in new directions. Can't say the TSE has made me much money, but the on-going learning process is rewarding.

It's easy to not suffer from GAS. Just limit oneself to a single lens for a period of time and see how creative you can be. I do this regularly (away from sports/PJ work) simply to force myself to "see" in a different way. It also often points out to me why I have other lenses. I'm fascinated with the MP-E. The work people do with this lens is incredible and can't be done with any other tool. I haven't bought one in part because there is only so much "non-money making gear" I can justify and part because I'm still absorbed in the TSE.

Would I get a 1Dx if I could fund it? In a New York minute! I desperately need another 2 stops of useable light and full frame would really add potential. I'll get one at some point, but only when the used price drops into my price range as virtually all my gear has always been purchased used.

For those for whom photography is a hobby? Well hobbies don't really make sense anyway: collecting stamps, old toys, etc., playing fantasy any sport, riding a bike or motorcycle just cause you want to, the list is near endless. Assuming your children aren't starving just because you bought the latest 1D75xxx, how is this different than any other non-employment activity that probably everyone on this forum can do precisely because they aren't struggling to provide at subsistence level? One could argue that we should all be more Christian (Buddhist, Islamic, Jewish, Pagan, etc.) by putting excess income into caring for those with less, and I strongly believe (and practice) that we all owe the community, however defined, some measure of service and commitment.

Balancing that is - at least for me - some driving force that makes me want to be more aware, to see the light anew, to find the moment when all is in balance, to hold time and space for just that utter instant. I think the time one spends looking thru the viewfinder is like what the great Izaak Walton said of fishing, "Time spent fishing is not deducted from a man's allotted life span."

I don't have any feelings for my gear. And I don't lust after stuff I wouldn't use (like an 85L). I don't care about my cameras and lenses except as tools. I don't care about my screwdrivers and hammers either, but I'll buy good enough tools to get the job done. I've never bought, sold, and re-bought any lenses-- except once to move from a single-coated to a multi-coated version.

When I started, I tried to cover a lot of focal lengths, mainly with zooms. Now I have coalesced around a narrow area of focal lengths, and haven't owned a zoom in over half a decade.

Gear leaves me feeling nothing. But the photographic process-- and the results-- make me ecstatic.